Second batch of questions...

[ReluctantlyHuman 0]

So things are going better. I read some FAQs, I think I know a little bit about what is going on. I've tried out some other characters, and am quite enjoying the Wood Elf and the Dark Elf. I really want to like the Seraphim (wings!) but she is just not doing it for me (yet). Same thing with the Vampiress. I had visions of perma vamping it from here to over there. And then I realized I'm not so good with CAs that have durations.

 

But onto my queries.

 

1.) Whenever I kill certain NPCs (quest monsters? Bosses?) a circle of like stars or something will shoot into the sky from their corpse. Is this anything, or just a graphical effect to make me feel all strong. Stronger than I feel after already severing someone's head that is.

 

2.) I read the manual (well the electronic one that came with mine), and I am still confused about Defense. Alright, there is a defense statistic, and there is a resistance statistic. Is defense like whether I will be hit, and Resistance how much damage I'll take? Armor doesn't make it much clearer. "Expected protection"(I think that is the phrase) Is that fluid based on my statistics, or just some random number they came up with? And it seems like sometimes I'll put on a new shiny piece of armor with stats that seem to be 'higher' to me, but my listed defense/resistance will fall. I might have found the cause of that now that I've read about equipping items that are higher level than me, but any clarification would be super.

 

3.) Some of the items I find give weird bonuses that I cannot figure out. For instance, "Weapon damage +37% Dexterity". I'm kind of paraphrasing that one since I did not write down the whole bonus. Does that mean my weapon gains an additional damage bonus that equals 37% of my dexterity? If so, that's kind of weird, but ok.

 

Sorry for all of the questions, but I had no idea some of the systems in this game would be so, esoteric, to a newcomer.

 

-KEvin

[Totalimmortal 0]

So things are going better. I read some FAQs, I think I know a little bit about what is going on. I've tried out some other characters, and am quite enjoying the Wood Elf and the Dark Elf. I really want to like the Seraphim (wings!) but she is just not doing it for me (yet). Same thing with the Vampiress. I had visions of perma vamping it from here to over there. And then I realized I'm not so good with CAs that have durations.

 

But onto my queries.

 

1.) Whenever I kill certain NPCs (quest monsters? Bosses?) a circle of like stars or something will shoot into the sky from their corpse. Is this anything, or just a graphical effect to make me feel all strong. Stronger than I feel after already severing someone's head that is.

 

2.) I read the manual (well the electronic one that came with mine), and I am still confused about Defense. Alright, there is a defense statistic, and there is a resistance statistic. Is defense like whether I will be hit, and Resistance how much damage I'll take? Armor doesn't make it much clearer. "Expected protection"(I think that is the phrase) Is that fluid based on my statistics, or just some random number they came up with? And it seems like sometimes I'll put on a new shiny piece of armor with stats that seem to be 'higher' to me, but my listed defense/resistance will fall. I might have found the cause of that now that I've read about equipping items that are higher level than me, but any clarification would be super.

 

3.) Some of the items I find give weird bonuses that I cannot figure out. For instance, "Weapon damage +37% Dexterity". I'm kind of paraphrasing that one since I did not write down the whole bonus. Does that mean my weapon gains an additional damage bonus that equals 37% of my dexterity? If so, that's kind of weird, but ok.

 

Sorry for all of the questions, but I had no idea some of the systems in this game would be so, esoteric, to a newcomer.

 

-KEvin

 

 

do not feel bad bout the questions... there were times when each of us JUST started the game... lets see... idk the answer to #1... SCHOT, GOGO, COME QUICK! WE NEED AN EXPERT! =P

 

#2. Defense affects the likeliness of being hit, resistance determines the damage done. (put in the simplest terms that I know how, as im tired and drunk)

 

#3. I believe you hit #3 on the head. I am pretty sure it adds 37% of you're dexterity to the damage. but then again, I'm drunk.

 

keep playing, I'm bout to SPWD (singleplayer while drunk)... see how much survival bonus I can lose... "CRAP! I DEFINITELY HIT SPACEBAR" (in reality, I was just punching the desk)

well, take care kevin

 

-Total

[gial 2]

To #1 , yes I believe it is just an "effect". I think all Sakkara die that way.

 

To #2, again, precisely right. Defense is chance to be hit, resistance damage done. The formulae are symmetrical, too:

 

Chance to be hit: Opponent Attack / (Opponent attack + Your Defense)

 

Damage taken: Opponent Damage / (Opponent Damage + Your Resist)

 

The Damage is calculated separately for each damage type, then summed for the final number

 

"Protection" is the games estimated value of the defense/resists provided by an item and is not exact - especially if you have % bonus to either from other equipment

 

To #3, again correct. 37% of your dexterity is added as damage to the specified damage type.

Edited January 28, 2008 by gial

[gogoblender 3,070]

heh, Reuctantly you got answered by two peeps here pretty quickly and Gial is probably our foremost expert on Def... noone builds a Sold wallmounted defensive based like Wood Elf like him ^^

 

I just wanted to add that during the beginning of this game, the debates would range on which was better...resistance or defence. Turns out they're both needed, specially in higher levels. The def of course (monsters' chance to hit you) can be fiddled with if you're fast with your fingers and can dance out of a monsters way, stay far away or just be invisible all the time. Resistances though are pretty compelling (for me anyway) as the ability to just plain reduce damages by socketing more resistances can keep you alive as well.

 

 

gogo

[gial 2]

gogo is very definitely right.

 

Defense alone is not enough. Once you get even to plat, the enemies in VoT have such a high attack they still hit well over half the time -- even with a huge defense like I had.

At that level, resists and attack/life leech become much more important. You need to be able to hit back more often than they hit, and steal back life quickly or you are a goner.

 

I had to adapt my original "tank" once I hit platinum, to be more attack oriented. Even so, she died around 160 in niobium.

[ReluctantlyHuman 0]

I do not know how I missed all of these replies. It seems like the last time I'd checked there was only the one, but this is excellent... sort of. I'm glad I was right about my questions, but I was hoping for some of those magic answers that'd make the game all totally make sense to me. And actually I've kind of found one. I sort of stopped worrying too much, and just played how I wanted to. And so far, it's rocking. I ended up just focusing on Battle Daemon with the occasional Tentacles thrown in for undead with my Daemon and so far so awesome. She's only level 20-something-ish and pretty early in the quest in Silver Mode, but heck, I'm having fun. And I think I've got a grasp on most of the systems and mechanics in the game. I've also been messing around with a Dark Elf who seems to be able to do wonders just using Combat Kick and a weapon that gives off some poison. He still failed that Escort quest from Silver Creek, but I'm going to tell myself everyone fails that quest.

 

Er, long story short, thanks for the replies everyone. Off to play now. Let us see what DeMordrey is really up to.

[Scleameth 19]

And actually I've kind of found one. I sort of stopped worrying too much, and just played how I wanted to. And so far, it's rocking. I ended up just focusing on Battle Daemon with the occasional Tentacles thrown in for undead with my Daemon and so far so awesome.

 

I'm with you on this one - I think if yer playin' single player (like me), it's better just to enjoy the game and focus less on those special item you might\might not find at merchants... a while back I was totally distraught by seeing all these special items online and me not even in posession of a single complete set... for any of my toons ! Then I read about trading... gosh I spent whole weeks just at Bravemart trying to get better and better items... every now and then I'd get a + trading item and think "Now this is it ! I'm gonna get 'em reaaaaaly special item just now", I wasted a lot of time just getting frustrated with not really finding what I wished for.... then I thought "To hell with trading !", I'm just gonna focus on + %finding special items.... (I have to say that was in the days before I owned Underworld), but sheesh, nothing seemed to improve my quality of drops that much - well in Silver that is...

 

The best thing that could happen was gettin' Underworld and playin' the Deamon and not worrying about trading - I just started playin' for fun again and that was a revelation ! Then whenever a special drop occurred it was a bonus and not a let down if it wasn't "special enough".

[Totalimmortal 0]

what I always did with the escort quest was went to porto vallum and hit the portal, went back to bellevue, went to silver creek, went to bellevue, and then portalled back to vallum. once you get out of the portal orcs will attack and you need to run to the bridge before eric dies. then nostrax will drop his goodies and you slay the orcs and everyones happy. it avoids the goblin lawn of death and you finish the quest a lot quicker. hope this helps!

 

-Total

[ReluctantlyHuman 0]

what I always did with the escort quest was went to porto vallum and hit the portal, went back to bellevue, went to silver creek, went to bellevue, and then portalled back to vallum. once you get out of the portal orcs will attack and you need to run to the bridge before eric dies. then nostrax will drop his goodies and you slay the orcs and everyones happy. it avoids the goblin lawn of death and you finish the quest a lot quicker. hope this helps!

 

-Total

 

Man I had not even considered that. Part of me assumed if I headed back towards Bellevue, they'd get all angry at me, but now I know better. Rockin, thanks.

[Totalimmortal 0]

Anytime man, it's a nice little quest and I, like you, used to get livid with that fool bodyguard getting killed by every goblin and orc in sight.

No more. =D

 

-Total

[gial 2]

Another option - give Eric a bow. He won't rush ahead then. And 'B' will feed him a red potion too when his life gets low.

[gogoblender 3,070]

Wow, you did get a lot of the gang on this thread helping out huh..

 

Yay guys, lol

 

And I wanted to also point out Reluctant, that the daemon is kinda one of the tuffer toons to work with. See, her Combat Arts work AFTER you effect a change of form. this adds an extra level of machination to the build, whereas with most of the other toons with the exception of the Vampire, they all just cast right off the bat without you having to change form in the first place.

 

A while ago I did a build with her using energy bolts and tentacles...the rather spectacular results of which you can see in this thread here:

 

http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?sh...p;#entry6771021

 

You picked one of the most wonderful toons to work with, but one that's a might tuffer than the rest to get a handle on. YOu sound like you're picking up the game fast, keep us informed.

 

Cheers

 

 

gogo

[ReluctantlyHuman 0]

Gial, you rock! Not that the bow idea isn't good, but I'd yet to stumble across the hotkey for giving another character a red potion. I know I'd read the hotkeys in the game sometimes left something to be desired, so I am glad to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I'll double check the eletronic manual to see if it mentions it, but is there a hotkey to instant use one of the CAs, or do I have to mouse over/hit the corresponding number and then right click? A button that would instant cast recuperation or what have you, without me having to switch away from multi-hit would be swell.

 

And I am noticing the Daemon can be a little more difficult, but thankfully I chose to play her first, so I'm not realizing how 'difficult' she can be. Though, on silver dififculty, she just Ginsu's right through most of the opposition she comes across. I've only fought one dragon so far (the one you get to from DeMordrey's castle), and it wasnt hard so much as time consuming.

 

I did test out my vampire again last night, and had much more success than I had previously. One 'difficulty' I noticed though, is that Turn Into Vampire doesn't refresh until after you've turned back into a Knight. So even though my regen is lower than the duration, I still have some 'vulnerable' time. But now that I have a wolf, not-so-vulnerable.

 

Thanks again everyone

-KEvin

[Totalimmortal 0]

I personally feel as if the vamp is the most powerful starting character in the game (well, second... DE takes the cake for me). she's tough and is very versatile, and you can socket draw life from opponents quite early in the game. not only that, but the (I wanna say recundis set) is a dragon killer, so you can make a dragon suit for whenever you come across them... very helpful. well, keep fighting, you'll get to gold, plat, and niob soon enough

 

-Total

[gial 2]

Seems to me I read somewhere you can set up your function keys to operate Combat Arts but it has been a long time. If I am recalling, that thread was on the Sacred International Forum (SIF). It might be as simple to set up as click and hold a CA, then hit the desired function key.

[Carolyn Hacker 0]

It might be as simple to set up as click and hold a CA, then hit the desired function key.

You open your CA screen, hold your mouse over the desired CA symbol, then press the Fkey you want it mapped to (then the Fkey name will show by that CA, in case you forget what you mapped).

 

Unfortunately you can only use F1-F6, and I'm pretty sure you can't do the same kind of mapping for combos

[ReluctantlyHuman 0]

It might be as simple to set up as click and hold a CA, then hit the desired function key.

You open your CA screen, hold your mouse over the desired CA symbol, then press the Fkey you want it mapped to (then the Fkey name will show by that CA, in case you forget what you mapped).

 

Unfortunately you can only use F1-F6, and I'm pretty sure you can't do the same kind of mapping for combos

 

Most excellent. And I'm glad to see I didn't just miss it, but it's something I have to set. Not that htiting F1 is that much closer than just hitting 6, but that is neither here nor there.

 

-KEvin

[Carolyn Hacker 0]

Not that htiting F1 is that much closer than just hitting 6, but that is neither here nor there.

I mainly use it for the Combat Arts that I don't use often, but I do use (ex: Healing & Phase Shift). Selecting the Fkey causes the mapped CA to be placed into whatever CA slot is active - my biggest problem is remembering to switch my active slot before using the Fkey, so I don't replace my main attack CA instead.

[ReluctantlyHuman 0]

Not that htiting F1 is that much closer than just hitting 6, but that is neither here nor there.

I mainly use it for the Combat Arts that I don't use often, but I do use (ex: Healing & Phase Shift). Selecting the Fkey causes the mapped CA to be placed into whatever CA slot is active - my biggest problem is remembering to switch my active slot before using the Fkey, so I don't replace my main attack CA instead.

Since I do not use many CAs with my Daemon, it is less useful for her, but it will be nice for my BM and WE for just those CAs and then some.